Charlotte O’Brien was an experienced PA working for a Director of multiple companies. When her PA role required her to get involved in a High Court case, she felt she needed a better understanding of law and decided to study ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma. From there, her interest in law grew and she decided to make the move into working as a Legal Secretary. 

Charlotte is now a Family Legal Secretary at the award-winning law firm Birketts LLP and is studying our Family Law Advanced Diploma. We spoke to Charlotte about her studies, her job search and how ILSPA’s Diploma helped her in both her previous role and her new role as a Legal Secretary.     

The legal industry is a competitive field to gain work in, therefore it is wise to equip yourself as best as you can before starting your search for a new career in law. But how do you set yourself up for an effective job search?

We spoke to our partner and specialist legal recruiter Simply Law Jobs and asked their advice on starting a job search in the legal industry. These ten simple tips, which perhaps seem obvious but are often forgotten, will help you search for jobs more effectively and submit a stronger application for legal roles in 2020.

Filter your search

The role of a Legal Secretary is much sought after among workers who want to pursue a career in law. It’s an ideal starting point at which to absorb knowledge of the industry before progressing through the ranks. There are many perks to working as a Legal Secretary – the salary is high compared to that of a standard Secretary and there is opportunity for generously paid overtime. The larger firms also generally offer health benefits and incentives such as ample holiday. London remains the main hub for legal firms, though there is a big market growing outside of the capital in major cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. 

In Autumn 2019, over 2,800 legal professionals responded to TotallyLegal’s annual salary survey, sharing the details of their working lives from job title and practice area to PQE level and salary.

From the data provided by our audience, we crafted the 2019 Audience Insight Report – a free to download overview of the legal profession that also allows you to benchmark your current earnings.

With annual pay rises of 54% and 55% respectively, the report revealed a rewarding year for the majority of Legal Secretaries and Legal PAs. Additionally, 50% of Legal PAs and 39% of Legal Secretaries were awarded a bonus on top of their basic salary.

In terms of the gender pay gap, female Legal Secretaries earned 8% more than their male colleagues, and female Legal PAs were awarded a significant 45% more than men in similar roles.

Whether you’re a new graduate or the CEO, starting a new job can be daunting even for the most confident person. As the saying goes, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ and your first day on the job can potentially have a huge bearing on how you are perceived by your colleagues from then on.

But there’s no need to panic! Here are 6 things you can do to maximise your chances of making a positive first impression:

1. Plan and prepare for your first day

Simple steps such as checking your new journey to work or planning your outfit the night before can greatly benefit the flow of your morning.

Last November, Joanne Wilson was named Legal PA of the Year at SecsintheCity’s PA of the Year Awards 2019. Joanne is a Fellowship Member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs.

After the ceremony, SecsintheCity caught up with Joanne to learn more about her career to date and her current role at Hall Brown Family Law, plus the advice she has for aspiring Legal PAs.

How did you become a Legal PA?

Here is a selection of vacancies from our Legal Secretary Jobs Board this month:

Conveyancing Legal Secretary – G2 Legal Limited

Location: Nottingham

Salary: Competitive  

A highly-regarded, regional firm are looking for an experienced legal secretary to join their Conveyancing Team in West Bridgford.

View the full job description here:          

https://www.institutelegalsecretaries.com/jobs/candidate/job/168451/

Legal PA – Criminal – Owen Reed  

Location: Central London

Salary: £35,000 - £37,000

Owen Reed are recruiting for a Legal PA to join a top London law firm.  The Legal PA will work within the Criminal team.

The start of a new year is the perfect time to think about the skills you would like to acquire to advance your career. It provides you with a fresh start, which can give you clarity about what you want to achieve. Whether you are new to the profession or you have been working as a Legal Secretary for many years, there are always skills you can develop to improve the quality of your work.

In line with our article on continuing professional development, we have produced a list of five skills that you could consider honing this year:

2020 has arrived and it’s a great time to have a think about the ways in which you can develop yourself professionally this year. The new year offers a clean slate where you can see things clearly and focus on improving your professional working life.

In order to be a competent and efficient Legal Secretary, you need to have impeccable skills. There are many different areas which you could consider improving, including your secretarial, legal or IT skills. Our New Year, New Skills article can give you some guidance with this. Whether you are new to the profession or you are an experienced Legal Secretary, there are always ways in which you can improve to be better at your job.

This month we will consider the Queen’s speech which took place towards the end of 2019 and what new laws we might expect to see in 2020.

The Queen usually only attends Parliament on ceremonial occasions. Last year, she was present at the State Opening of Parliament, where the start of the parliamentary year was marked. At the state opening, the Queen read out her speech from the throne in the House of Lords Chamber. To be more precise, the speech was not actually the Queen’s own words; it had been prepared for her by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The Queen’s speech normally happens once a year, but the last one happened in June 2017 because the Prime Minister at that time, Theresa May, wanted a two-year parliamentary session.